The Rhythm Of Life

Group Drumming Boosts Body's Immune System, New Research Shows

January 23, 2001|By GARRET CONDON; Courant Staff Writer

An evening of group drumming energizes Stacy Tarkowski.

``It's almost like I feel the blood has come to the surface of my skin and I have increased energy,'' said the West Hartford woman, who has participated in group drumming sessions, on and off, for about five years. ``I feel really awake and alive and energetic. It re-balances me.''

Maybe more than she knows.

A newly published study of group drumming showed that it seemed to bolster the immune systems of people who kept the beat. The results -- if they hold up to further research -- confirm what many traditional cultures have believed for millennia: Drumming is healthful. The growing number of recent group-drumming converts in the developed world won't be shocked either. Like Tarkowski, many report that drumming makes them feel better. Such drumming is increasingly used in therapeutic settings.

All that's needed is a facile label like the Mozart Effect. The Ringo Effect, perhaps.

Dr. Barry Bittman, chief executive officer and director of the Mind-Body Wellness Center in Meadville, Pa., headed up the team that sought to measure the effect.

In the final experiment, 60 volunteers were randomly assigned to 10-member drumming or non-drumming groups. A preliminary study had shown that the most promising form of drumming was what the researchers call ``composite drumming,'' which combines a variety of directed drumming activities.

In the experiment, the drumming groups began with an ice-breaker activity, then moved to drumming the syllables of the names of each member of the drum group, led by a drumming facilitator. Next came a period of follow-the-leader group drumming at various speeds. Finally, group members drummed to a story spoken aloud by a group leader. Those in the non-drumming control groups spent the same amount of time relaxing in a lounge, reading newspapers and magazines. Each group performed -- or lounged -- for a single, one-hour session.

Participants were asked to refrain from alcohol and sex for 24 hours before their sessions. They were given psychological tests to eliminate mood as a factor in the results, and blood was taken before and after the session.

Bittman and his colleagues found that, unlike the groups who relaxed reading magazines, people in the composite drumming groups showed increases in natural killer (NK) cell activity, interleukin-2-related LAK (Lymphokine-Activated Killer) cell activity and interferon-gamma-related LAK activity. Basically, the drumming seemed to stimulate helpful components of the immune system. The authors theorize that such group drumming might have the same immune-boosting effect as activities such as laughter and exercise -- all of which have been studied by the same team.

Bittman, a 49-year-old neurologist, is careful not to oversell the results.

``We're not saying we have a cure for cancer,'' he said. Rather, he hopes the study, which is published in this month's issue of Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, establishes drumming as an activity worthy of serious study.

Bittman is interested in testing the impact of drumming on patients with serious illnesses. In any case, he's got them drumming away in Meadville.

``It's a lot easier than teaching a new group the violin,'' he says. The drums are portable, he notes, and almost irresistible to most people, who can use them despite most physical disabilities. Bittman is now consulting to a drum manufacturer, Remo Drums Inc., which paid for the study and has established a division devoted entirely to the health aspects of drumming.

Paul Gemme of Windsor is familiar with the health aspects of drumming. A decade ago, he was using drumming with groups of recovering substance abusers. Today, he builds drums and flutes and teaches group drumming -- as well as running a variety of workshops and retreats.

``I've always seen it as a way of just releasing a lot of pent-up emotion,'' he said.

Like Gemme, Bob Bloom of Storrs said that drumming teachers have seen the kind of results that Bittman's team tried to quantify. Bloom offers group-drumming workshops in a number of settings, including schools, hospitals and youth centers. ``I can watch Alzheimer patients start giggling with their relatives,'' Bloom said.

Such a response would be expected in many traditional cultures that regard illness as ``the organism being out of rhythm,'' said music therapist Barry Bernstein of Lenexa, Kan., who gives drumming workshops around the country.

Laurie Sylla, well-known locally as the executive director of the Hartford HIV Action Initiative, is also president of One World Arts Exchange, which presents African drumming and dancing workshops throughout the Northeast. The principal teacher is Sylla's husband, Abdoulaye Sylla. She said specific rhythms often are used for healing ceremonies, and dancing is frequently part of the mix.

Bernstein said one study doesn't change the world, but it may help widen the use of group drumming in health care.

``I'm so thrilled about this research because it's a first step in trying to verify scientifically what we've literally known for thousands of years.''

For more information on the Bittman study, see www.amc-music.org/drumstudy. Barry Bernstein's Web site is www.healthysounds.com. For local drumming information and links, please see www.gemmeinnovations.com (Paul Gemme) and www.drumming-about-you.com (Bob Bloom).